Heartbeat
by Baxter54132
Summary: Blake carries Yang to safety, but the physical and mental damage is more than she can handle. AKA - Blake jumps to conclusions and sets off on her own adventure before Yang even has the chance to wake up.
Here's my first RWBY fic. I was inspired by the commentary on the season 3 dvds. This fic is kind of dramatic, but I think Blake's thoughts are probably pretty dramatic.

* * *

Once Blake gets herself and Yang away from Adam, her brain flickers into auto-pilot. The courtyard seems to stretch on and on. Every patterned pathway looks the same and the sickeningly sweet scent of flowers overwhelms her senses. Blake desperately strains her ears, hoping to hear her friends off in the distance. She doesn't care who it is at this point, just anyone to help her escape. Of course her effort is met only with silence, so she continues dragging her teammate down the rows and rows of flowers.

Yang's wound is dripping blood at this point, and the crimson mixes with Blake's own blood under her clenched fist. Yang's still completely unconscious, unaware of the fear and panic she brought Blake mere moments ago. The fear returns in waves with each new drop of blood. Blake attempts to shift Yang and stop the blood flow, but freezes when the jolt sends a shockwave of pain through her abdomen. She suddenly stumbles forward, her left knee scraping harshly against the ground. Blake holds the pose for a moment, her brain screaming to drop the extra weight and collapse. She inhales deeply and focuses on the beating heart a few inches from her own. Blake counts a few pulses before slowly exhaling. She continues to kneel there, calmed by the steady beating of Yang's heart. She's still alive, and that's what matters. Keeping her alive is the number one priority, no matter what the cost.

Of course she needs to find her friends first in order to do that. Blake once again shifts her hearing outward, relieved when she hears the click clack of Schnee heels against the courtyard tiles. Blake forces herself into a standing position despite the pain threatening to knock her unconscious.

"Weiss!"

Weiss rounds the corner a few seconds later, and she seems to materialize by Blake's side. "Blake! What happened?" Weiss reaches out blindly, and it registers in Blake's mind that she can't see them properly because of how dark it is. Blake studies the Schnee heiress for a moment. Her eyes scream of exhaustion, but her voice is confident and clear. She takes another step towards Blake, this time reaching very close to her goal. "Is Yang alright?" Blake's brain finally kicks in and she turns to shift Yang's good arm into Weiss's hands, allowing her to tug the unconscious girl onto her back. The weight off her back feels like a burden off her shoulders, but now she has Weiss's question looming before her. She swallows and reaches out to help support Yang. She pauses mid reach when her hand passes through where an arm should be. That's right… Blake bends down and ignores her wound screeching at her to stop as she wraps her arms around Yang's midriff. She straightens her back, helping to carry Yang in the best way her pain addled brain can think of.

"She's hurt." Her voice comes out gravelly and low. She can't see Weiss at this point, but she can sense the ice queen tense as she realizes the weird carrying pose Blake's adopted. Weiss reaches around to Yang's right side, her fingers groping around and eventually coming into contact with her new shoulder wound. Weiss hesitates, and her hand retreats to settle under Yang's shoulder. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I can explain…"

"Not right now," Weiss stops Blake with a firm shake of her head. "We need medical help. Here, I can carry her myself." Blake begrudgingly releases Yang's stomach. Weiss shifts Yang into a piggyback with one sharp movement, and both girls wince when blood splatters from the still exposed wound.

Weiss only waits a moment before trudging towards the exit, with Blake only a few steps behind her. A new ripple of fear shakes through her as she drags herself past the new pools of blood. She once again focuses in on Yang's heartbeat. It's weaker than before, but still beating. This provides a small comfort in Blake's crumbling world.

* * *

Much to Blake's relief, Weiss easily leads them out of the school. Blake's eyes flicker from friend to friend as Sun rushes forward to help Weiss with Yang. Sun immediately begins carefully wrapping her wound while Weiss settles on the ground to chat with Ren and Nora. Team CFVY are also collapsed around the area and Blake's ears pick up a gentle conversation between Velvet and her team leader. Team SSSN seems the least hurt of everyone, and Blake's grateful when Neptune rushes forward to help her. With everything settled, Blake collapses to the cold ground, making sure to put herself as close to Yang as possible.

"Are you alright?" Neptune kneels next to her, his eyes narrowed in concern. He scans her wounds before gently moving her clenched fist away from her abdomen. Blake wryly thinks to herself that if the situation were less dire he'd ask if she fell from heaven, but the tense atmosphere seems to have calmed him.

Blake draws her hand out of Neptune's grasp. "I'm fine, please help them with Yang."

Blake's not sure if Neptune listens or not, since she's slowly losing the ability to focus on the things around her. Her eyes stay trained on Yang, her ears straining as she tries to catch the sound of her heartbeat. It's hard with all of the people standing around them, but she thinks she can hear it. Eventually Sun finishes wrapping her arm and moves away, leaving them alone.

Yang's heartbeat is clearer now and has returned to its normal pace. However, instead of calming Blake down, this time it stirs up her memories from a few minutes prior. She remembers Adam standing over her, his eyes blazing and grin smirking as he turned towards Yang. Blake remembers trying to cry out, but being unable to utter more than a breathy groan. Then Yang shouting and charging and falling, and everything is her fault. If Blake never involved herself with the White Fang, never involved herself with Adam, then this never would have happened.

Blake reaches out without thinking, lacing her fingers through Yang's like it's the most natural thing she's ever done.

"I'm sorry."

The first hot tear trickles down Blake's cheek. "I'm so sorry."

The tears won't stop now, so Blake buries her face into Yang's shoulder. She holds back a sob and instead inhales Yang's scent. It smells like dandelions and the sun, and the familiar smell helps bring her back to reality. Yang is still here, Yang who is so precious to her. Yang who is now missing an arm because of her.

What if Yang hates her when she wakes up? The thought brings new tears to her eyes. To lose Yang would be to lose everything. Yang who convinced her to go to the dance and take a break every once in a while. Yang who can always sense when she's feeling a little off. Yang who always knows she wants tea instead of coffee. Yang who invites Blake on late night strolls if she notices she's awake. Yang who means the world and more to Blake.

The thought of Yang turning away in disgust fills Blake's mind. She sees the blond reject her, asking her to leave and never come back. A different kind of pain wracks Blake's heart at the thought. She can't lose Yang.

She has to fix this. But how?

Blake lies silently for a few moments. Her thumb rubs gently across the back of Yang's hand as she desperately tries to think of a way to save their relationship.

Blake can only think of one option, and it terrifies her just considering it. She has to defeat Adam. He's the one who sliced off Yang's arm, the one that Blake fled from all those months ago. He caused so much havoc and chaos in her life, and now it's spreading to the people she loves.

If she can defeat him, Yang will definitely forgive her. Or at least she'll respect her and they can start over. Then the two of them can be partners again. Of course it won't be easy, but it's the only way, and at this moment, Blake can't see any other way.

Blake resolves to leave as soon as the battle settles. She has a lot of training to do.

* * *

I strongly believe that Blake would jump to conclusions without waiting for Yang to wake up. I also strongly believe that whatever she is doing between seasons 3 and 4 is related to Yang, she was just too ashamed to face Yang in person.

Anyway I hope you liked the fic!


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